A Modern Phantasy
by TheMaskedArtist
Summary: Christina and Raphael have won a singing competition and are heading for Paris to go to college on a paid tuition and to compete against singers around the world at the Paris Opera House.
1. Chapter 1

First there was a white half mask. And a rose. Then there was a loud gunshot, almost piercing to the eardrums, and a moan. It was full of pain. It was also coming from a man. His face appeared. The right side was shadowed in the darkness that consumed everything else. The eye, which was covered in black, shown bright yellow and the other eye was a plain black. Eyes like a cat, he had, and tears were streaming down from them. The man opened his mouth to speak, but when his lips moved nothing came out, until he reached his last sentence. "I will be protecting you, always." His voice was heavenly, the voice of an angel. There was another deafening gunshot.

Christina Daaylen shot up in her bed, wide awake, her waist length, straight, light brown hair everywhere. A cold sweat poured over her, as if it were raining, soaking her pajamas. She wiped the sweat from her face. She was still breathing hard. What had that been all about? Sure she had some weird dreams every once in a while, but none like this. The 17-year-old's brown eyes wandered to her clock, which was sitting on the white night stand, next to her bed. It read 4:52 AM. Christina would have to be getting up in about thirty minutes, anyway, to get ready for school. She was also wide-awake. There seemed to be no reason for her to go back to sleep. Maybe she could just go down into the newly finished basement, where no one could hear anything, and play her flute, or sing.

She got her musical talent from her mom. Her mother sang; her grandmother sang. Everyone up until her third great grandmother sang. They were very successful at it. Her third great grandmother, who was Swedish born, had been an Opera Diva at the Paris Opera House, in France, for some time. Christina wasn't too familiar with that story; no one had even bothered to give her the name of her famous great grandmother. All she knew was that she hurried out of France in 1883, just a year after she had her first child.

Christina uncovered herself and stepped onto the white carpet that covered her floor. She turned on the light, revealing her maroon walls, which was clad with pictures she had drawn of her various dreams. She was also quite the artist. In the back of her mind, the young girl noted to draw one of her more recent dream. She went over to her closet and opened it, wondering what she would wear. In her rather large closet hung a white, sparkling, off shoulder dress. The top was tight and the bottom was poofy. It looked like it belonged in the 1800s. The dress was for singing performances. The dress had been passed down to each generation, since her third great grandmother, but still looked new. Trying to find her way around the many skirts of the fancy dress, Christina grabbed a brown layered skirt. Then, she went over to her chest-of-drawers and pulled out a short-sleeved, maroon shirt. Her matching maroon flip-flops were already downstairs, by the door.

After she dressed, Christina stood in front of her mirror and brushed her hair. She was also thinking about her dream. Who was that man? He was handsome, and that voice! Oh, what a wonderful voice! And why was only half of his face visible? Coming out of her thoughts, the girl put her brush down, turned off her light, and headed for the basement.

The house was silent and dark, just how she liked it to be. Her little brother was usually jumping around, and all in her business. Her parents fought sometimes. They would yell at the top of their lungs at each other, especially when they were drunk. She loved them, even so, but it got annoying. Christina found her way to the basement door and went down the carpeted stairs. The light switch was at the bottom of the stairs, so hopefully she didn't trip. When she safely got to the bottom, she flipped on the light and looked around. Her parents had granted half of the basement to her, as her own personal space. This is where she could play, practice, sing, and draw. The other half held the family's computers and laptops.

Christina pushed open the door to her side and went in. There were candles all around. She liked working in candlelight, instead of bright lighting. There was a small drawing studio in a corner, her instruments stored in another corner and shelves of music. She also kept a boom box in the room, so if she needed to remind herself of a melody, she could just pop in a CD and listen.

She looked at her instruments, which consisted of a flute, a piccolo, a small keyboard- the real piano was upstairs-, and a violin. She could also play the clarinet and saxophone. Instead of picking on up to play, she went over to her many shelves of music and picked up a few sheets entitled "Think of Me." It was an old song from the opera called "Hannibal." Her mother taught it to her when she first learned how to sing. It was one of Christina's favorites. Another song that was passed down was called "Point of No Return", in which she usually sang with her boyfriend, who was also a singer. She had done some research on that particular song, but found no record of it. All she found that was apparently linked to it, was the famous chandelier crash of 1871 in the Paris Opera House. Her mother wouldn't tell her either, but Christina knew that the older woman knew.

Deciding to sing "Think of Me", Christina set the sheet music down on her desk and stood up straight. She imagined wearing the dress that hung in her closet, and being on the stage of an opera house. Her hair would be up in curls, with star hairpins, and star earrings. Christina sang the song, perfectly, and by the end was smiling brightly. She had forgotten about the dream for now. When it was over, she suddenly went pale, and her smile faded. It felt as if there was someone there. She spun, looking around the entire room.

"Hello?" she said, getting chills. No one answered, but there was a definite presence in the room. Christina looked up to the clock, which read 5:38 AM. The presence had now faded. She decided to leave the basement, and go upstairs. Her parents would be getting up soon to have breakfast and get ready for work. Letting out a deep breath, she turned off the light in the room and went upstairs.

"Ah, good morning, honey," her mother said when she came upstairs. "Were you singing just now?"

"Yes, mother…"

What Christina had failed to see before she left was the rose sitting on top of her "Think of Me" music. It had a note attached to it with a black ribbon.


	2. Chapter 2

By the time Ben, Christina's little brother, got up, and breakfast was cooked, it was 6:00 AM. The family sat down around the round table and helped themselves to eggs, pancakes, etc. Christina ate slowly, not listening to her parents; her mind was back on the dream again, and the weird presence that was in the room downstairs. When she finished eating at 6:06 AM, she raced from her chair back to the room made for her in the basement. She didn't want to be disturbed.

When she was in the room, Christina quickly lit a few candles by her drawing studio, and sat down on the stool. She picked up her pencil and quickly sketched the mask and rose from her dream. She had finished part of the face when she took a look at the clock. It was 6:45 AM. It had taken her that long? Taking a look at the picture, she noticed that it had been really detailed, and erased a lot. She dropped the pencil, blew out her candles, and went to the door that led outside for the room. Christina slipped her maroon flip-flops on and took a step outside. The air was still cool, but would soon be getting hot, since it was almost summertime. Her backpack was already in her black Mustang; her parents could afford cars like that.

Christina's parents were already outside, ready to go to work. But, her car was in the way. She hurried to her car and left the driveway, quickly. She could drive to school, since she was a senior. While trying to pay attention to driving, she slipped a CD into her car's built-in CD player. It was one of her and her boyfriend, Raphael, singing together. It wasn't "The Point of No Return," but it was a romantic song. She loved to listen to them both singing together.

The line to get to school from the road was long, as usual. She would out of school in a week or so, then graduating about a week or two later.

"What a relief," Christina sighed, thinking about not ever having to drive to school again. College wouldn't be so bad, would it? When she finally parked, she turned off the car and got out, just to see Raphael drive up next to her in his red Mustang. She grabbed her book-bag and wandered over to the driver's side of his car. "Hey, love," she said as she got out.

"Hey," he said and grabbed her around the waist with one hand, kissing her on the lips. When he finally let go, he asked, "How was your night?"

"It was all right, I guess. Mom and Dad got into another stupid fight last night. I don't even know what it was about. I was trying to do my homework." Christina sighed. "It's getting so annoying. I can't wait until I'm out of there." While she talked, Raphael took his bag out of his car and closed the door.

"I know, my sweet. Just hang on for a little while longer," he tried to console her. She took his hand and they both walked towards the school. "Anything interesting happen this morning?"

"You know, funny you ask that," she replied, looking up at him.

"But, I ask you everyday."

"Yeah, I know. Anyway," she began. "I was down in the basement. In that room Mom and Dad gave me. You know that room." He nodded. "Well, I was singing. I was singing 'Think of Me.' When I was done singing it, I could have sworn there was someone else in the room, but there was no one there. Then, I looked up at the clock. The presence just…disappeared. It was really weird."

"And this has never happened before, while you're singing?" he asked, looking rather curious. She shook her head. "Hm…weird." Raphael let go of Christina's hand and opened the door for her. She thanked him, as she did every morning, and went to her locker, after giving him a kiss 'good-bye.' When she was done at her locker, she went straight to the Chorus room. Chorus was her first class, then Strings, Math, English, Lunch, Band, Tech Ed, and French.

"Good morning, Christina," the music teacher greeted her when she walked in. Christina merely nodded to the older lady and went to join her friends over in the corner of the music room.

"Hey guys," she said and sat down with them. They all said 'hi' to her and continued their conversation. At 7:25 AM, the bell rang, and the music teacher told them all to be quiet so she could talk.

"As you all know, the seniors will be gone in a week, and they each have been working on a song to sing in front of an audience for their final grade. What you don't know is that there will be judges there, from Paris. They will be judging you on your singing and will select one male, and one female to go to Paris with them. You would attend a University there, and keep competing with people all around the world." All of the senior's eyes, boys and girls alike, lit up with stars.

Later that day, at lunch, Christina sat down with her lunch and waited for Raphael to come. She was really excited about this and wondered if she even had a chance. She would be singing "Think of Me", of course, and "Point of No Return" with Raphael. Finally, her boyfriend came, also excited.

"Do you think we stand a chance, Raphael?" Christina asked as she started to eat. He shrugged.

"I don't know. But it would be awesome if we could go together," he replied and stuffed some school-made French fries into his mouth. The rest of lunch was silence between the two of them. They were no doubt thinking about thinking about the competition. When the bell rang, they decided to stay after school and practice. It was Wednesday and the show was on Friday night.

"I'll see you after school!" she about yelled behind her back and the two parted. Christina wandered to the band room, which was right next to the chorus room. She got her music folder from the large cabinet by the door and went to sit in her seat, second chair, first flute. Her best friend Melody Gifford was first chair, first flute. She was also an outstanding dancer, who already knows that she will be attending an art school in France. Christina told Melody the news.

"That would be great if you and Raphael won! We would be able to see each other whenever we wanted to!" Melody exclaimed with excitement.

"But, you are coming to the performance, right, Mel?" Christina asked her friend. Mel nodded.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world. I'm always there to support my best friend," she answered. The bell rang and class started.


	3. Chapter 3

**Friday**

Christina stood back stage in her white poofy dress, wringing her hands, nervously. She was on second, had one costume change to a really slutty outfit, then went on with Raphael. She looked out on stage and watched Carla perform. Truth be told, the girl wasn't all that great. When she went up high, it hurt the ears.

"Are you all right, Chris?" Raphael asked as he came behind her. He put a hand on her shoulder for comfort, but it didn't help. They had practiced and practiced, but Christina couldn't get the bad feeling out of her body.

"I don't know. I'm really nervous. And I have a really bad feeling," she answered. As if right on command, Carla hit a bad note. Everyone heard something snap up above, by the fly. One of the backdrops for the end of the year school play was falling and coming straight for Carla's back. The audience stared and pointed in horror. Carla took note of this and turned around. Before one of the stagehands could push her out of the way, the large, heavy backdrop hit her and pushed her to the floor. There was a crack when she hit the floor. The whole auditorium was silent. Audience, Backstage, everyone. They were all staring.

Finally, a stagehand rushed out to her. Two others ran out and pushed the backdrop off of her, then helped her up.

"Ouch!" Carla yelled when one of them grabbed her left arm. "Don't touch that!" When she was up on her feet, the music teacher came out on stage.

"Sorry for the inconvenience, ladies and gentlemen. We'll take a short break and be back with Christina Daaylen." She helped Carla off stage and called for an ambulance. The stagehands fixed the backdrop and made sure it wasn't going to fall again. About ten to fifteen minutes later, the curtains opened again. Raphael had to almost push Christina on to the stage, she was so nervous.

"What is your name?" one of the judges sitting in front of the stage asked.

"Christina Daaylen," she answered. She spelled out her last name for them as well.

"And your song?" the same judge asked.

"'Think of Me', from the Opera 'Hannibal'," she answered. They thanked her and she went on singing. When she was done, she had a standing ovation and the judges were nodding to each other. She took a bow, then walked off stage and was greeted by Raphael. He gave her a kiss.

"Great job, baby," he said. "Now go change. We go on soon." She smiled then ran off to the girl's dressing room. Melody was already there, to help her get into her costume.

"You were great out there, Chris!" Melody exclaimed as she helped her friend get out of the white dress. Melody handed Christina her black dress and hung up the white one. Christina slipped the dress on. It was a tube dress, asymmetrical around the bottom, where it ended around the knees, and a red flower on the top by her right arm. She put black eyeliner around her eyes, and dark red lipstick. Then, she turned to Melody.

"Thanks, Mel. Get back to your seat. We're going on soon," Christina said to her best friend, who hurried out of the dressing room. A minute later, there was a knock on the door, while Christina was fastening her black high-heeled shoes. "Come in!" Raphael entered, wearing his costume, to match hers. Black pants and a red shirt.

"It's time, Chris. Let's go," he said, and hurried her out of the room. They got out onstage. They went through the same process Christina had gone through. Then, they sang the song. When they ended, they were both breathing hard and they didn't move. Everyone stared for a while, then started to clap wildly. Even the judges seemed to enjoy it. They both bowed and ran off stage, really excited.

"That was so great!" Christina exclaimed backstage. "I think it was the best we've ever done it." Raphael had to agree with her. There was a lot of passion flowing between them by the end of the song, and the judges knew it. While the others were performing, Raphael and Christina went to the vending machines just outside the auditorium to get some water.

"I believe we stand a chance, my dear," Raphael said between gulps of water. Christina took a sip of it. "But let's get back in there. There were only two performances after ours and they should be just about over." The pair went backstage again, just as the second performance was ending. When the stage was clear, the judge who had asked for Christina's name and song got up on the stage.

"Thank you all for attending this wonderful performance. We've seen a lot of talent here tonight, no doubt. If you don't know why we are here, I'll explain. We're here tonight to single out the best singers here, one male, one female, and give them a full tuition to a University is Paris, plus a chance to compete against people all over the world in the famous Paris Opera House." There were all kinds of 'Oooo'ing coming from the audience. "Alright, alright, settle down everyone. Let's get down to business. We judges have all agreed." All the singers who were standing backstage were full of anticipation. Christina was wringing her hands again, and Raphael was trying to stop her. "The male we have chosen is Raphael Chase. And the female is Christina Daaylen. Let's here it for them!"

Christina couldn't believe it. She stood there, frozen in her place. She won? And Raphael, too? The voice teacher pushed the two out on stage, where they were greeted with thunderous applause. Melody, Christina's family, and Raphael's family were screaming for them. They were also all sitting together. Raphael grabbed Christina around the waist and kissed her, on the lips, which warmed her up.

"We won, Raphael," she said, quietly, breaking away from the kiss.

"I know, Hon," he said. Finally, the crowd died down, and Christina accepted the microphone from the judge. She grabbed Raphael's hand as she spoke.

"Thank you all so much. Both of us would like to thank our families, who have encouraged and helped us all the way through our singing careers. I'd also like to thank Melody Gifford, my best friend. She's been to every concert we've been in, and she helps me backstage with my costume changes. I couldn't ask for a better friend and I hope she is successful in Paris, where she will also be going to college." She handed the microphone to Raphael.

"And, I think that the love of my life, Christina, here, has said about everything that needs to be said. Thank you all, very much," Raphael said into the microphone before handing it back to the lady.

"Thank you for coming and have a safe trip home!"


	4. Chapter 4

_Two Weeks Later_

Christina stared at herself in Melody's gigantic mirror, which was built into the wall. She was wearing her white cap and gown. She couldn't believe that she made it to this day, graduation. And then tomorrow she would be going to France with Raphael and Mel, to spend the summer there. They wanted to know their way around before they started college.

"What do you think, Chris?" Mel asked, standing behind her. Christina turned around to look at her friend.

"Gorgeous as always," she replied to her friend. "Are you all packed for tomorrow?" Melody nodded and asked the same question. "Yeah, I am." Suddenly, Christina heard a faint sound coming from behind the mirror. It sounded like a voice, but she couldn't tell what it was saying. Mel had busied herself in making sure everything was packed. Christina walked towards the mirror. The voice stopped. "Did you hear that?" Mel looked up from the bags sitting on her floor.

"Huh?" she said, looking at Christina.

"Did you hear that?" Christina asked again, putting a hand on the mirror.

"I didn't hear anything," Mel answered. "What is it, Chris? What do you think you heard?"

"I thought I heard a voice," she replied. "But, I guess I was just imagining it." Melody shrugged and went back to her bags. Christina could have sworn there was a voice behind the mirror. She dropped her hand and looked at her friend's alarm clock. "Oh, god. We have to go, Mel." Her friend looked at her clock. They both slipped their gowns and caps off, then ran out to their cars. Mel stuffed her bag in and took off first, followed closely by Christina.

When the two were about halfway to the building graduation would be in, Melody's cell phone rang. Looking away from the road, Mel grabbed her cell, slowly down unintentionally.

"Hello?" she said when she turned it on. "Oh, hi, Mom. Yes, we're on our way and should be there in about fifteen minutes." The next thing she heard was the squealing of tires, drowning out her mother's voice.

In the other car, Christina had no idea what Mel was doing. It was dangerous, though. She kept slowing down, almost too quickly for Christina to do the same. Finally, Mel slowed down way too quickly and made Christina turn fast to the side and hit the brakes. Her car spun out of control when she turned off and she couldn't regain control. Mel drove to the side of the road and got out of her car.

"Mom, I'll see you in a bit," she said, quickly, and hung up. Christina's car finally stopped spinning, just missing the trees on the side of the road. Mel ran over to her friend's black car and opened the driver's side door. Christina sat in it, hands tightly grasped on the steering wheel, staring out the front windshield, horrified, and breathing hard. "Oh my god." Luckily, there was barely anyone else on the road to have an audience. "Christina!" Mel about yelled. "Christina, it's over. Let go of the steering wheel." Melody tried to pry her friend's hands away from the wheel. "Christina, its O.K." After a few minutes, Christina finally relaxed, her breath starting to go back to normal. Slowly, she let go of the wheel and sat back in her seat. "Are you alright?"

"I'm…I'm fine. I was just…scared," Christina replied. She sighed.

"Are you O.K. to drive?" Mel asked. Christina took a moment, then nodded.

"I think I'll be fine," she said. "Let's not tell anyone about this for now, alright? I don't want anyone to worry." Mel nodded. Was Christina dreaming? Or did it feel like some had wrapped their arms around her to protect her?

"Alright. Let's get going," Mel said and wandered back over to her car. She let Christina go first this time and made sure her cell was completely turned off.

When they arrived, they had to stay behind the stage, with all the other seniors and teachers. Raphael was standing by the door, waiting for the two to arrive. Melody and Christina got out of their cars and walked over to him.

"Where have you guys been?" he asked them. The two looked at each other.

"We left the house late," Melody answered him. He nodded and they went inside to check in with a teacher.

And hour and a half later, the ceremony began. It was long a boring, to Christina. She wasn't sitting anywhere near any of her friends, and the band's selection for music wasn't interesting in the least. According to the announcer, it was called "Bacchanale" from "Samson and Delilah." Christina and Mel had played that song sophomore year for a school concert. Not only was in boring, it was hard. She kind of felt sorry for the freshmen that were stuck playing it. Mel looked back at her and smiled when the song started. Christina smiled back.

Finally, the diplomas were handed out and the Valedictorian gave her speech. They turned their tassels on their caps and threw their confetti. Cap throwing was illegal, due to hitting someone in the eye with one a few years back. The air sparkled with little shiny pieces on confetti and the band played "Pomp and Circumstance" while they processed out and backstage.

While backstage, Christina took her cap and gown off, showing off a white, spaghetti strapped dress that went to her knees. It wasn't anything really special. She fanned herself with her hands. It had been hot up out there. Mel and Raphael joined her and they went to their cars to stuff their things in them. The three also decided not to go to the after-graduation party, since it was already almost 11:20 PM and their flight left at 6:05 AM. Luckily, they didn't have to drive home, which would be about forty-five minutes. They were staying in a hotel, which was fifteen minutes away, close to the airport. Their families were going to the hotel as well. The three families booked three rooms.

At the hotel, Ben, Christina's 13-year-old brother, complained about having to share a bed with his sister. So, to please him, Christina stayed with Melody, since it was only her and her mom.

Mel's mom went to sleep first, then Mel. Christina laid in bed, with Mel sleeping beside her. She thought about how wonderful Paris was, then her mind raced to the voice behind the mirror. She had forgotten all about it before. Then the arms that she felt held her during the accident she had before graduation. Finally, around 1 AM, Christina drifted off to sleep, dreaming about tomorrow.


	5. Chapter 5

The first thing Christina saw when she woke up was Melody's face. She sat up, and felt her head pounding. Then, she looked at Melody.

"Chris, its 4:00 AM. We'll have to leave in about an hour. Get up and get dressed," her friend said. Christina mumbled something that Mel couldn't hear and uncovered herself.

"Who's got the shower first?" Christina mumbled, loud enough for Melody to hear this time. She remembered that Ms. Gifford had taken a shower the night before. Then she saw Mel's hair was still wet. "Nevermind," she said, and grabbed her clothes for the day. She went to the bathroom and before taking her shower, she took some painkillers to get rid of her headache. Finally she hopped in the shower, which felt extra good, and also helped her head a bit. Christina washed her hair with her mint-smelling shampoo, washed her body, and then got out to dry.

Christina came out of the bathroom, steaming flowing out behind her from the shower. She was wearing a pastel blue halter top and a white skirt that went down to her shins. She sat down, on the side of one of the beds, next to Mel. Then, she grabbed her brush off the nightstand, started brushing her hair, and watched TV. The movie "The Princess Bride" was on.

"Feel better, Chris?" Mel asked. Her mother went passed them, into the bathroom to change. Christina nodded and tried to part the back of her hair. "Need help?" Grateful, Christina handed over her comb to Melody and let her part it. Then, Christina braided her long hair in pigtails and tied them off at the end with ponytail holders.

"Thanks, Mel," she said. Melody smiled and went back to watching the movie, as did Christina. 5:00 AM rolled around quickly, especially while watching "The Princess Bride", one of the pair's favorite movies. The two best friends and Mel's mom were all ready by the time the hour came. Mel's mom was busy on her laptop, and the girls were watching the movie, when Raphael came to the door. He knocked, and Mel got up from the bed to answer it.

"It's time to get to the airport, you guys," he said, quickly. Christina got up and turned off the TV, then wandered outside of the room, behind Mel, and followed by Ms. Gifford. Everyone was already outside. "Everyone got someone to drive their cars back?" Raphael asked the girls.

"Yes," Christina replied. "My parents took the van and drove your parents here," she said to Mel and Raphael, "so they could drive our cars home."

"Oh, right, I almost forgot," Raphael said. "Alright, let's get going." Raphael's dad caught up with him to ask him how the flight was going to be. "Seven and a half hours, dad." He sighed. "Don't worry. It's not going to crash in the ocean or anything." They all went outside, and got into their cars. It took about fifteen minutes to get to the airport. Then, the three who were traveling checked in at the front counter and got their tickets. They stood outside the security check for about 20 minutes, saying goodbye to their parents. Ever since 9/11, their parents were not allowed to go back with them, since they were over thirteen. The three were inform of the cars that their parents had bought for them, that would be over there, in France.

With one last hug and kiss, the three went through the security check, not having to get checked twice, and went back to their gate, which was at the very back, which took about ten minutes to get to, because of the size of the airport. Christina sat down on the chairs, waiting, and the other two sat on either side of her. They were informed that the flight would be arriving about five minutes late. There was also very little people there. Melody counted 10 other people besides them.

"For going to France, you'd expect a bigger crowd, wouldn't you, guys?" she asked looking at the other two, who shrugged, and went back to what they were doing. Raphael was listening to his CD player, and Christina was making one last check in her carry-on. Mel and Raphael both thought she was crazy for putting her flute and piccolo in her carry-on bag. Then she explained that she didn't want them to get messed up. She would've brought her violin on her carry-on, if there had been enough room. Instead, she was forced to put it in one of her bags. Their parents would be sending more stuff through mail, like the things that they couldn't take.

Finally, the flight came in, and they got on. Since there weren't many people, and it was a non-stop flight, the flight attendants didn't really care where they sat. Raphael hated flights, to he took the outside seat. Melody loved them, so she took the window seat. That stuck Christina, who didn't really care where she sat, in the middle. As the flight took off, the friends looked at each other, and held hands.

"Are you guys ready for this?" Melody asked the other two, who nodded.

Since the flight was so long, and it was so early in the morning, Christina took her CD player out and listened to it while falling asleep. Mel fell asleep after a couple of hours of looking over sheet music, and watching out the window. Raphael was out in the first half-hour. Apparently, he had been up all night playing card games with his dad, and didn't really go to sleep. When the flight was about to land, a flight attendant came over to wake them up.

"The flight is about to land, so please wake up and turn off your electronic devices," she said, cheerfully. Mel and Christina wanted to know how she could still be awake, and so happy, as well. The lady went away, back to her seat, and strapped herself in.

There were a few bumps on the way down, which upset Raphael. They unbuckled their seat belts early and, when they were allowed to move, took their carry-ons out of the over-head compartment. Raphael, eager to get off, went first, and quickly, followed by Christina and Melody. The airport around them was foreign, very foreign. Luckily, they all had been taking French, so they knew which way to go. While walking, they all took out their cell phones, and at the same time, called their parents.

"Yes, we got here alright, dad," Raphael was heard saying.

"Don't worry, mom, we know French. We'll learn our way around," Melody said.

"Yes, mom. Yes, we'll find the cars. Don't- Oh, hi, Ben. Yes, I'll bring you back something cool. Alright. Bye," Christina ended. She looked at her friends. "Lets get going. We have to find out how to exchange our money. Then we have to find the cars."


	6. Chapter 6

The three drove up to the university that Raphael and Christina were to go to. Mel's college was right down the street; they had passed it while driving. Christina got out of her brand-new black Mustang, which was an exact replica of the one in the US, except this one had a build-in digital screen so she knew where she was going around France. She went over to Melody's car and the other girl lowered her window.

"Go ahead to your college and meet us back here when you take your bags into your room," Christina said through the open window. Mel nodded and backed out of the parking lot. Raphael got out of his car and followed Christina inside. The whole lobby was deserted, except for one lady, standing with her back to them. "Excuse me," Christina said. The lady turned around. She was a familiar face, the lady judge who had nominated them before the graduated.

"Oh, Christina, Raphael!" she said, surprised. "You're here already? I did not expect you until the new semester started."

"We decided to come and spend the summer here, so we could get used to France before we had to start school," Raphael said to the lady. "But we need help finding our dorms." The lady nodded.

"You don't know about the system do you?" the lady asked. The two shook their heads. "Well, the girl's dorms are on the left of the University, and the boy's are on the right. The names are posted on the front door of the dorms in alphabetical order. It says whether you have a single or a double dorm, and it tells you what room." After she was done, she started to leave, but stopped. "By the way, I'm Ms. Conway, your new voice teacher." Finally, they all said their good-byes and the two went back outside.

"Well, let's go," Christina said, then went towards the girl's dorms. When she got to the front door, there was a bunch of keys and a packet of paper. She looked through the names, found hers, and saw that she had a single dorm. Breathing a sigh of relief, she grabbed the key with her dorm number on it and went up. She turned the key in the lock and the door slowly opened by its self. For a college dorm room, it was really nice. The walls were a deep red, much to her liking. The bed was large, and the floor was wood. The closet was large, and there was also a large dresser. Sitting in the corner was a dark wood desk. The sliding doors to the closet were large mirrors. Christina slipped the key in her pocket and went to examine something that was on one of the mirrors. It was in the top, right corner of the left mirror.

When she reached the mirror, she saw a rose. It looked like it was imprinted in the glass and painted. She put her hand up to it, and when she touched it, it was warm. Puzzled, she took her other hand and put it on another part of the glass, which was cold. Christina took both hands off the mirror and continued to stare at the rose. The rose brought back the dream she had at least a month and a half before. That voice, the angelic, wonderful voice re-entered her head. "I will be protecting you, always" was what he said.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, which made Christina jump. She turned to the door to see Melody standing there. She came in to find her friend looking as if she was going to faint. Christina grabbed Mel's arm to keep steady. She didn't like to be scared like that. Melody jumped away when her friend grasped her arm. Then she took Christina's hand in hers.

"Chris, you're hands are freezing. Are you alright?" she asked looking Christina in the eyes. Christina pulled her hand away and shrugged. "And your face. It's white!"

"You scared me, Mel," Christina said, quietly. "You and something else." Melody looked puzzled.

"Well, it's alright, now. Don't be scared. Come on. Let's go get your stuff out of the car." Christina nodded and looked back at the mirror. There was no sign of the rose at all. "Chris? What is it?"

"Nothing," she answered. "Come on, let's go." Christina quickly left the room, trying to forget about what had just happened. She grabbed two large suitcases out of the back seat of her car while Melody grabbed the other two from the trunk. Raphael was no where in site. He must have been still checking out his room. After all of the bags were brought up to her room, Melody sat on the bed while Christina started to unpack. "Is all your stuff already unpacked?" Christina asked Mel.

"No," was the answer. "But, I had hoped that when you were all done, we could go by the Opera House, and then get something to eat." Christina nodded, thinking that it wasn't a bad idea.

"I'll get done quicker if you help me," Christina said, trying to get her friend to help her. Melody got off of the bed and started to unpack Christina's clothes. She knew her friend so well that she knew where all her clothes went, if they got hung up or not. In fact, she had probably worn most of them at some point or another.

"Did you bring your white dress?" Mel asked. Christina pointed to the hang-up suitcase that was hanging on the doorway. "Do you want me to leave it in the bag or take it out?"

"Leave it in there. I don't want anything to happen to it," Christina answered, behind drawings and instruments. While Melody was working on the clothes, Christina stuffed her instruments in a corner of the room, by the desk, and hung her drawings up on the wall. The one that went on the wall above her bed was the now finished picture of the man in her dream, with a rose and mask under him. She had never told anyone about it, and no one asked. Getting to the bottom of one of the five suitcases, including the hang-up bag, Christina found a lot of her sheet music. More would be coming from her parents when they had a chance to send the rest of her stuff. She took out all the music and put it into a drawer of the desk, leaving "Think of Me" on top. There was another knock at the door, but this time, it did not surprise her.

"Almost done, Hon?" Raphael asked from the doorway.

"Yeah," Christina answered. "And Mel thought we could stop by the Opera House before getting something to eat. Sound good?" Raphael nodded. Melody emerged from Christina's now full closet.

"All done!" she exclaimed. "Ready?" The other two nodded. "Alright! Let's go!"


	7. Chapter 7

I went to an online translator to get the French in this chapter…it's probably not the most accurate of translations, though.

**Chapter 7**

Thinking it would be best to take one car, than to waste gas, the three friends hopped into Raphael's car and drove out of the parking lot.

"So, where is the Opera House?" Raphael asked, trying to keep his eyes on the road. Christina, who was in the front seat, pulled up the tracking computer in his car. He looked down at it for a moment, and looked back up to the road. "Apparently it wasn't that far." He pointed to the left. Christina and Melody's eyes followed his finger to see a large, old-looking building.

"Guess not," Mel said. The drove up to it and parked. There looked as if there was no one else there. "Come on, let's go!" she exclaimed after the three had been ogling the large building for a minute. They went up the steps and got blasted with cool air.

"At least the air conditioning works," Christina said and looked around at the lobby. It was large, and very fancy. There was no one around to tell them where they could and couldn't go, so they just wandered. With Christina leading, and holding Raphael's hand, she found her way into the magnificent room that had gold statues everywhere and red velvet seats. She let go of Raphael's hand and went down in front of the pit. Looking down into it, she noticed that it was bigger than her old high school's pit, but rather messier. To her right, there was a door that said, "Backstage." So, Christina took it and found her way up to the stage.

"Sing something, Chris!" Mel exclaimed from one of the seats before Christina, who was now standing in the middle of the stage. Christina smiled and agreed to. She saw Raphael take a seat in the front row. "Sing 'Think of Me!'" To her friend's bidding, Christina cleared her throat and started to sing the song.

"Think of me

Think of me fondly

When we've said 'Goodbye'

Remember me

Once in a while

Please promise me you'll -"

"I would highly recommend not singing that song alone, here, miss," a voice coming from the left said. She stopped in mid-song and looked over. There, a tall man stood with dark skin. He looked as though he was Middle-Eastern. Raphael and Melody had gotten up and were leaning over the pit to see who was there.

"Why not?" Christina asked. "It's a really old song. I doubt anyone here has heard it." The man looked up and around the fly.

"You would be quite surprised," he said, in a rather mysterious way. "That song is the -" There was a noise on the right on the stage that made everyone turn to see what it was. When they looked, there was nothing there. Christina turned back to ask the older man what he was going to say, but he had vanished.

"Well, that was weird," Melody said. "I wonder what that was all about." Christina shrugged.

"I don't know," she said. "Let's go. This place seems a bit creepy. And, I don't know about you, but I'm starving." The other two nodded and Christina rejoined them down on the floor. As they walked out to Raphael's car, Christina thought about the man they just saw, and that unidentifiable sound. For a split second, it sounded like singing, but that had been taken over by something louder. And that man- how is it that he was somehow familiar to her? He wasn't cute, nor young, so how would she know him?

"Chris?" Raphael's voice brought her out of her thoughts.

"Yes?" she mumbled.

"I asked you if this restaurant sounded good to you," he said. He showed her his travel book and it had a list of many different restaurants in that area. "It's got steak, ribs, chicken, and other things that you like, hon." Christina shrugged.

"If that's alright with you guys," she answered and got into the car with the other two. She sat back in her seat. Raphael put in a CD of Opera music, which they all enjoyed, and drove to this restaurant. When they got there, they realized just how fancy it was. The building itself was pretty tall, not really in comparison to the Opera House, but for a restaurant. Other people who were walking in around them were dressed up, and they were lucky that they were wearing pretty nice clothes. They didn't feel so out place.

Inside, it looked bigger than it had looked outside, and it looked like almost every place was filled. They had to wait for about 15 minutes before they were seated. The menu, of course, was all in French, so it was good that the three knew French like a second language. The waiter came up to them, dressed in a tuxedo shirt, black bow-tie, black pants, and black shoes.

"Qu'est-ce qui vous aimer ?" he asked them. Christina was the first to answer. To any restaurant she went to it was always some for of chicken.

"Le Cordon de Poulet Bleu, s'il vous plait," she said. Her two friends ordered other things, and the waiter took their menus.

"Le fait d'attendre est environ trente minutes," he said, concerning their food.

"Merci," Mel said. They waited for around thirty minutes, just as the waiter said, and they ate their food silently. All three were, no doubt, thinking about the events that occurred at the Opera House. When they finished, which was quickly, since they were so quiet, Raphael got the bill and they left. "Well, that was good," she commented upon leaving.

"Yeah, it was," Christina agreed. Raphael nodded his head and checked his watch.

"Well, it's almost 6. Maybe we should just go back to the dorms and hang out," he said.

"I'm going with Mel to help her unpack. Would you like to come?" Christina asked Raphael, who shook his head.

"I'm pretty tired."

"Alright then. Just drive us back to the University and the two of us will just got back to my dorm," Mel said. Raphael agreed, and when they got back to the large building, they split.

**Translations:**

"Qu'est-ce qui vous aimer ?"- "What would you like?"

"Le Cordon de Poulet Bleu, s'il vous plait"- "Chicken Cordon Bleu, please"

"Le fait d'attendre est environ trente minutes"- "The wait is about thirty minutes."

"Merci"- "Thank you."


End file.
